Sadly, many of my old friends have died, at least those who are really old friends, childhood friends. I hesitate to call my wife, Marcia, an old friend. We have, however, known each other for 58 years, and have been married for 55. She certainly qualifies. And I don’t think she’ll mind if I offer her up, […]

Many years ago, while lying in a fluish state of fever and delirium, I asked myself if I was so ill I might die. A voice inside me matter-of-factly answered, “No.” “Who said that?” I asked the voice. “Your soul,” it replied. “Wow,” I said. “Hi.” “Hi,” my soul said back to me. Now it’s […]

I have many women friends. They have seen me through joys and sorrows. I have lots of male friends, too. Mostly they are friends’ husbands. Some are former colleagues; some are even former students. Their emails show up from time to time with a joke or a commiseration on the Red Sox, that sort of […]

I have some recently acquired friends who are old, whom I love. I have some friends whom I’ve loved for decades. You know who has been my longest friend, don’t you? Maxwell House Instant Coffee. Iced or hot, it has always been in my cabinet. Add milk and sugar and celebrations get happier and distress […]

“Make new friends, but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold.” We crossed paths in the 1970s. She was from Pennsylvania and I from New York. We were kindred in our passion for skiing and the mountain life. The communal life was beckoning, and sharing a lifestyle was the norm at ski […]

How old is old? I did not meet my old friend on Facebook because I am not a member, nor do I “post.” But someone recently regaled me with stories about how she loves it, spends hours on it, and through Facebook she connected with an old friend who she knew in second grade. My […]

Back in 1965, my husband and I bought a new house in New Hampshire. I had no friends in the new neighborhood but was so busy with my 2- and 4-year-old children that I didn’t give it much thought. The house we bought was lovely and surrounded by woods. At the end of the block […]

Next year marks the 20th anniversary of my friendship with Fred. My “Fred-ship.” He still wears the oversized T-shirts and baggy sweatpants he did when I first spied him in Pilates class. Bearded and baseball-capped, leg circling in the air, sneaker laces dangling. Side by side, we went through the movements and motions, still strangers. […]

Aug. 11, 2020, 5 p.m. EST Dear Judy, I learned today that you died in San Francisco, and so it breaks my heart to have to say goodbye after 65 years of a friendship that defied description, perhaps even understanding. But that doesn’t matter, you and I understood it throughout years of new jobs, relationships […]

It was New York City in the ’80s. The Reagan years. Donald Trump was an annoyance even then, but the toxin was at least locally confined to the five boroughs of New York. I met Rahti at the Actors Information Project. We were in the same accountability group, tasked with building our fabulous careers in […]